Fake robocall seeks damaging information on Judge Roy Moore

On Tuesday, WKRG in Alabama reported that at least one person in its viewing area received a robocall from an individual claiming to be a Washington Post reporter looking for damaging information on Judge Roy Moore.

“Hi, this is Bernie Bernstein, I’m a reporter for the Washington Post calling to find out if anyone at this address is a female between the ages of 54 to 57 years old willing to make damaging remarks about candidate Roy Moore for a reward of between $5000 and $7000 dollars. We will not be fully investigating these claims however we will make a written report. I can be reached by email at [email protected], thank you,” said the message received by Pastor Al Moore.

According to WKRG:

Pastor Moore says he’s baffled about who might be behind the message. He said he sent a response to the email address provided but it came back undeliverable. We also tried the email address with the same result.

John Rogers with the Roy Moore campaign says it’s the first he’s heard of this type of robocall. We contacted the Washington Post but it would be highly unlikely that a newspaper would offer thousands of dollars for information, damaging or otherwise. We searched and could not find a record of a ‘Bernie’ or ‘Al Bernstein’ who works as a reporter at the Washington Post.

The robocall came the day after another woman, Beverly Young Nelson, came forward and accused the 70-year-old Republican of groping her and forcing her head near his crotch when she was 16. Nelson’s claims follow the Post’s report that Moore pursued, and in one instance, initiated sexual contact, with teen girls when he was in his thirties. Moore has vehemently denied all of the allegations.

Marty Baron, Executive Editor of the Washington Post, released the following statement:

“The Post has just learned that at least one person in Alabama has received a call from someone falsely claiming to be from The Washington Post. The call’s description of our reporting methods bears no relationship to reality. We are shocked and appalled that anyone would stoop to this level to discredit real journalism.”